Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise again in this House to address an issue that affects many people. I want to thank the hon. member for Vegreville—Wainwright for his motion. The motion essentially proposes that more information be provided to MS patients, both on the disease and on the treatments. As we know, these include the treatment for chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, or CCSVI, which has been making headlines in recent years.
As a doctor, I must admit that I am both intrigued with and skeptical of Dr. Zamboni's theory regarding CCSVI. I am intrigued because he seems to have achieved results and because, if his research turns out to be valid, it will be a major advance in medical research. However, I am skeptical not only because the research is not complete, but also because it is not the first time that a miracle cure for multiple sclerosis has been announced. I have in mind the 1988 announcement by a French physician, Dr. Le Gac, that the disease could be cured with high doses of antibiotics because it was caused by a virus.
It is my wish that the treatment will be available as soon as possible for all those who need it and that it will be proven effective. Patients and those close to them are putting a lot of hope into the procedure. They want to get well, and I can understand that. However, as a health care professional, I find it difficult to have someone undergo a procedure if a positive outcome has not been demonstrated and if the patient does not have all the information required to make an informed decision. I hope that the matter is cleared up as soon as possible.
The invitation to tender for clinical trials has finally been issued by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. However, the minister had announced in June of last year that these trials would take place. Once again, they will not begin before May 2012, and the call for tenders provides that these trials will be conducted over a period of at least three years. This is a very long time for a person who is confined to a wheelchair and who thinks a cure is possible. I just wonder about the time that will have elapsed between Dr. Zamboni's announcement and the beginning of the clinical trials. This is a terribly long wait. The clinical trials that were announced are good news, but they come late for MS patients.
Living with MS is not easy. The symptoms are often unpredictable. When someone is suffering from a cyclical type of multiple sclerosis, which means about 85% of patients in Canada, that person is asymptomatic until there is a flare-up. Afterwards, the person either recovers completely or has lasting effects. When a person suffers from the progressive form of the disease, MS is synonymous with a slow loss of autonomy, without any hope of improvement.
What is dramatic is that the people who are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis are in their prime. They are usually between 15 and 40. So, these are young people who are active in the labour force and have a family, or people who are dreaming of changing the world and making a contribution to our society. Learning that our body is an obstacle to achieving our goals is a hard reality to accept.
In Saint-Hubert, there is the Association sclérose en plaques Rive-Sud. This organization, which could see its funding eliminated by the United Way of Greater Montreal, provides support to patients and to those close to them, so that they can learn to live with multiple sclerosis. The association has been providing these services since 1976.
The Association sclérose en plaques Rive-Sud supports people with multiple sclerosis and their families as they learn to live with and cope with the illness. The association responds to the needs of both the individual and the family, in person or by telephone, and helps to break down the isolation of people with MS by offering activities like coffee meetings, speakers and community dinners.
Living with multiple sclerosis is very difficult, and I want to congratulate them on the work they do, both employees and volunteers, and of course their board of directors. I would like to thank them for the work they do in our community and for supporting the cause of multiple sclerosis.
Like some of my colleagues, I had the pleasure of meeting some extraordinary people who suffer from multiple sclerosis last October. They came to meet with me on behalf of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. Personally, I had the pleasure of meeting with Denis Baribeau and Hana Salaheddine, who live in Trois-Rivières and Montreal, respectively. I was impressed by their will to live and by how active they are.
Denis and Hana made some recommendations that I think are important and useful. One of them is to amend the employment insurance system to make it possible to receive partial benefits. At present, 80% of people with MS are ultimately no longer able to work. As well, some people with MS have to be absent from work for treatment or when they have flare-ups. More flexible employment insurance benefits would be of enormous help to them.
They also proposed that more support be provided for family caregivers, in particular by making the tax credit for caregivers refundable, which is not the case at present, and implementing a national strategy for family caregivers. This is an avenue that should be explored, in my opinion.
It is important to provide support for people with multiple sclerosis. The illness is difficult enough, without even counting the financial complications, employment and mobility. We also need to provide the most accurate and detailed information possible about the treatments available. And we have to provide them with the best available treatments as soon as possible. I know the CCSVI phase I and II clinical trials should be starting soon, but we have to expedite the trials as much as possible so that people with MS and their families can know where they stand.